Banglalink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom and a leading operator in Bangladesh, has won the International Association of the Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN) “Best New Service” Award for Mobile Remittance services, powered by Comviva’s mobiquity mMoney.  This is the first international remittance service available via the mobile phone in South Asia.

The Best New Service Award was announced at the Money Transfers London Summit 2010 held in London recently by the IAMTN.

Speaking on the occasion, Solaiman Alam, Head mCommerce, PR and Communication, Banglalink, Bangladesh said, “We are honored to win this award as it stands testament to our goal of making a difference to people’s lives by bringing new and affordable services to everyone. We chose to partner with Comviva due to its leadership in the mobile financial services space and its ability to deliver mobile money services efficiently. Besides we have also carefully partnered with two of the most advanced private commercial banks of the country namely Dhaka Bank Ltd and Eastern Bank Ltd as our banking partner for the service which gives us access to their global network of partnership with significant number of exchange houses all over the world. As a result, Banglalink customers now have affordable, convenient and easy access to mobile money services. We see mobile money services having a positive and far-reaching effect on the overall economy.”

“Monies sent home by migrants constitute a critical livelihood strategy for an approximate 7 million households in Bangladesh. High fees charged by remittance service providers, and low level of banking penetration among rural people compels a sizeable segment of non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to use informal channels to remit money. This remittance shadow market represents a substantial welfare loss for remitters, who are forced to send money home via unreliable, time-consuming and inefficient remittance channels,” added Alam.

Milind Pathak, Vice President SAARC, Comviva, commented, “This is a very heartening industry recognition for Banglalink and Comviva as we are both committed to improving people’s lives through mobile solutions, such as mobile money. Comviva’s mobiquity mobile financial services platform ensures mobile money services are easy to use and secure – enabling financial services to be extended to underserved segments. Providing mobile financial services is a key focus area for us, and we are pleased to see Banglalink being recognized by the IAMTN.”

Banglalink has teamed up with leading banks in Bangladesh to ensure the Mobile remittance service is available widely.  Banglalink mobile remittance service is already available at more than 1,000 Mobile Cash points throughout Bangladesh as well as 100,000 agent locations in 20 countries.